Tourist helicopter goes missing near volcano

A tour helicopter carrying three people disappeared near Mount Aso, one of Japan’s most active volcanoes.

According to local reports, the plane took off from a zoo in Aso City for a 10-minute tour at 10:52 local time (01:52 GMT) on Tuesday but never returned, police said.

At around 16:00, a police helicopter detected an object resembling a plane in the crater of Nakadake, one of the five peaks of Mount Aso. Authorities have not yet confirmed whether this is the missing helicopter.

According to local media reports, the 64-year-old pilot of the helicopter was a veteran with 40 years of experience. Its passengers were a man and a woman from Taiwan.

The US-made Robinson R44 aircraft was on its third sightseeing trip on the day it disappeared. According to the helicopter’s operator, Takumi Enterprise, there were no problems on its two previous trips.

Skies were reported to be cloudy in the Nakadake area on Tuesday and the search was suspended on Tuesday evening before resuming on Wednesday morning.

According to Jiji news agency, Takumi Enterprise grounded all its helicopters following the incident.

Helicopter tours over the volcanic landscapes of Mount Aso are among the most important tourist attractions in Kumamoto prefecture in southwestern Japan.

In 2024, the Takumi Enterprise sightseeing helicopter flying over Mount Aso made an emergency landing, injuring three people on board.

Mount Aso last erupted in October 2021, sending a huge cloud of smoke into the sky.